Table of contents:
- The importance of following a doctor's prescription drug schedule and dosage
- What will happen if you stop taking your medication without consulting your doctor?
- Is it safe to take the same prescription medication every day?
- Always tell your doctor if you are taking any other medications
Many chronic diseases require sufferers to take prescription drugs every day, such as arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, to HIV / AIDS. Some diseases require medication adherence because they cannot be cured and can only be controlled so that you can function normally like healthy people in general, for example diabetes and hypertension. Other diseases require a regular schedule of taking prescription drugs because of their long treatment periods (for example, TB and leprosy / leprosy).
But many people think that prescription drugs for chronic illnesses only need to be taken when they already have severe symptoms. There are also many patients who think that the drugs they are taking are not providing sufficient improvement in their condition and so often choose not to take them for fear of experiencing kidney damage as a result of taking the same prescription drugs over and over again.
In fact, if you frequently miss doses of your prescription drugs or you don't take them as recommended by your doctor, not only will your illness get out of control - it also doubles your risk for complications that can be fatal.
The importance of following a doctor's prescription drug schedule and dosage
Medication adherence means the obligation to take medication that has been prescribed by a doctor. This means that the dosage of your medicine must be right, taken at the right time, in the right way, the predetermined frequency, and for as long as needed. Why is this important? Simply put, not taking medications prescribed by a doctor or ordered by a pharmacist can cause your illness to get worse, hospitalization, and even death.
It is reasonable to think that once you have managed your illness well, that would mean the end of the story: you are disease free. But it is not. Some illnesses are lifelong conditions, and if you need to take medication, you will probably need to stick with it for the rest of your life - with a few changes here and there depending on your needs / disease progression.
What will happen if you stop taking your medication without consulting your doctor?
Even if you feel fine, do not stop taking prescription drugs unless you have your doctor's approval after consultation. Stopping drug doses too early can cause the disease to return, making it more difficult to treat or causing unwanted side effects.
People with type 1 diabetes, for example, are unable to make their own insulin, so they will always need daily insulin injections. Some people with type 2 diabetes take medications to keep their blood sugar at a healthy threshold, so it's important to stick with them to lower the chance of heart disease and other health problems.
And if your doctor prescribes a statin drug to be taken once a day at night every day to control your cholesterol / high blood pressure, you must obey the doctor's orders even when your tension is not relapsing. If you stop, your blood pressure can go up again. Reporting from the FDA, twenty-five to 50 percent of patients treated with statins who discontinued their therapy within one year had up to a 25 percent increased risk of death.
Is it safe to take the same prescription medication every day?
Many people purposely do not take their prescription drugs or tamper with their own prescriptions, for the reason that they are afraid of experiencing kidney damage as a result of taking the same prescription drugs over and over again.
Medicines prescribed by a doctor are therapeutic drugs, which are drugs that are specifically prescribed according to the standard dosage and amount that is safe to treat your disease. The concentration of the active ingredients of the drug has been adjusted according to the needs of the body, so that you can receive the drug's efficacy at its maximum potential but with only minimal or no adverse reactions to unwanted or adverse side effects.
However, there are some drugs that are toxic to kidney and liver health, such as Rifampicin (a drug for pneumonia, leprosy, tuberculosis) and some HIV drugs. In cases like this, the doctor will schedule regular liver and kidney function tests to monitor the health of these two organs.
Doctors have their own guidelines to help them decide what drug and what dose to use to improve your condition, so of course the doctor will not give a dose that is harmful to you. Therefore, it is important to discuss the uses of this medication and the alternatives it may have with your doctor.
Always tell your doctor if you are taking any other medications
If your doctor prescribes medication for your condition, try to dig up as much information about the drug as you can, including how to use it properly, possible side effects, and drug interactions.
All drugs have risks as well as benefits. The benefit of medicines is that they can improve your health and well-being by acting in their function, for example treating a disease, curing an infection, or relieving pain. Drug risk is the possibility that something unwanted or unexpected will happen while you are using the medicine.
Therefore, always tell your doctor or pharmacist about all medicines you have ever used and / or are currently taking, including herbal products and non-prescription drugs. Make sure to include products such as pain relievers, antacids, alcohol, herbal remedies, dietary supplements, vitamins, hormones, and other substances that you might not think are drugs. Also inform about your medical history and drug allergies. This is done in order to avoid the possibility of drug interactions and / or unwanted side effects.
